The Caribbean Coast

The Caribbean has fewer breaks than the Pacific, but still offers great surfing during winter and spring. Waves are short yet powerful rides, sometimes with Hawaiian-style radical waves. Occasionally massive swells sweep over the coral reefs, creating demanding tubes.

A 20-minute boat ride from Puerto Limón is Isla Uvita, with a strong and dangerous left. Farther south there are innumerable short breaks at Cahuita. Closing in on the Panamanian border, things really heat up! Puerto Viejo has the biggest rideable waves in Costa Rica (up to seven meters at times, mostly in December), although these legendary waves have diminished in size because of coastal uplift caused by the April 1991 earthquake. One expert recommends avoiding the Tortuguero region, where sharks are abundant.

The best time is late May through early September (hurricane season) and December–March (when Atlantic storms push through the Caribbean, creating three-meter swells).

Guanacaste and the Northwest

Surfing in the extreme Pacific Northwest is centered on Santa Rosa National Park. The best time is during the rainy season (May– November), when the surf can build to three meters; there are large offshore winds throughout the dry season (December–April), but the waves are smaller.

Hot spots such as Witch’s Rock at Playa Naranjo (one of the best beach breaks in the country, with strong offshore winds December–March) require four-wheel drive or boat for access. Surf trips are offered to Naranjo and Playa Potrero Grande (also in Santa Rosa National Park) from Playas del Coco, where boats can also be rented.

The Nicoya Peninsula

Nicoya offers more than 50 prime surf spots, more than anywhere else in the nation. Tamarindo is the surfing capital and is an excellent jumping-off place for a surf safari south to more isolated beaches. Just north of Tamarindo is Playa Grande, with a five-kilometer-long beach break acclaimed as Costa Rica’s most accessible consistent break. There’s fine surfing the whole way south from Tamarindo, including at Playa Avellanas and Playa Negra, a narrow beach with fast waves breaking over a coral- and urchin-encrusted shelf—definitely for experts only when the waves are big. Continuing south you’ll find Nosara and Playas Sámara, Coyote, Manzanillo, and Malpaís, all with good surf, lively action, and several surf camps.

Central Pacific

March through June are good. The best time, however, is July to December, when the Caribbean dies down and conditions along the central Pacific create a full spectrum of breaks.

Central Pacific surfing centers on Jacó, though the waves there really appeal to beginners and intermediates. Farther south lie Playa Hermosa, which has miles of expert beach breaks and an international contest every August, plus Escondido and Playas Esterillos Este and Oeste. The playas are blessed with surf camps. Manuel Antonio has beach breaks, lefts, and rights. What it lacks in consistency it more than makes up for in natural beauty. Farther south lies Dominical, which has “militant” sandbars and long point waves in an equally beautiful and classically tropical setting.

Golfo Dulce and the Osa Peninsula

Golfo Dulce and the Osa Peninsula have many surfing beaches. The cognoscenti head to Playa Zancudo and Pavones, on the southern shore of the Golfo Dulce. On a decent day, the fast, nearly one-kilometer left break (one of the longest in the world) is “so long it will make your legs wobbly,” according to Costa Rican surf expert Peter Brennan. The waves are at their grandest in the rainy season, when the long left point can offer a three-minute ride.

© Christopher P. Baker from Moon Costa Rica, 6th Edition